Yeah, as internet speeds and server storage capacities increase (provided we continue to deliver a steady stream of sacrifices to the aliens in payment for each new upgrade) it does begin to make file sizes seem less and less relevant.

I'm afraid I don't know anything about Photoshop - I hear it costs like a bajillion dollars or something, so I use GIMP.  When it exports my layers as a GIF, it asks me what speed to use (default is 100ms per frame) and whether I want combined frames (which I try to use when there's a background, as in my Pengubot animation) or replaced frames (which I use when there isn't a background, and old frames would build up behind new ones and look pretty weird).  If I want individual timing, I can change the name of a layer to include something like "(1000ms)", which would give a one-second pause in the animation (say on the last frame, before it loops).

Oh, and next time you're on YourFunnyCatTube, drop a comment on my channel, Mr_Fluffy_Cat90132, which I named after my Persian longhair.

@ninja crow

>I noticed that you are using two frames in your GIF for each stage of the animation

It's just an attempt to adjust the timing--which obviously isn't working out very well, since you said my Fifi animation was playing too slowly in your browser.  These things play back way too fast on my system, so much so that I have to double up on the frames to get the speed right.

More details: I do the drawing in Photoshop.  Photoshop won't save animated .gifs, so I export a sequence of still frames, import them into ProMotion, and create the animated .gif from there.  ProMotion allows you to adjust the timing by means of 'faster/slower' buttons, which seem to work well for making subtle adjustments, but not as well for radically changing the speed.  Eventually I get sick of clicking 'slower' sixty times, and just start adding frames.  It does make the file larger than necessary, but it's still pretty small in the Great Scheme Of Things, what with everybody watching multiple-megabyte videos of funny cats on YourFunnyCatTube and all.

Thanks, I really look forward to them!

You're probably right about the colours - I usually find it a pretty fun exercise to reduce as much as possible (almost a hobby within a hobby, as it were) ever since it was first pointed out to me here that I was using too many.

As an aside, I noticed that you are using two frames in your GIF for each stage of the animation (which would affect the 10k preview size also) rather than running each for twice as long.  I'm fairly new to GIF animation, so if there's a technical reason for this (multiple browser support?) I'd like to hear any details you can pass along.

@ninja crow

I think he's sixteen colors, more than is strictly necessary--he could probably be reduced to eight colors without anybody noticing.

Thanks for the suggestion--If I do any new animations for him, I'll post them as separate pieces.

Great animation cycle and a fun design with lots of character and humour.

I like your ideas about the gramma and the transformation, but I request they be their own brand new entries rather than changing this one (there's no alert to members for changed pieces, and I wouldn't want to miss any updates to a piece I like that would be that significant!).

I also like your colours, and am curious as to how many you used for this.  Eight, maybe?

@big brother

The little yappy ones don't have to transform into anything to be dangerous.  And I say that as someone with a lifelong affinity for little yappy dogs.

I was actually thinking there should be a gramma in the art, walking the poodle, and getting dragged behind the werepoodle.  Her vision wouldn't be any too good, so she'd be unable to see the transformed creature; she'd be sort of puzzled by the dramatic changes in her poodle's energy level...

My gramma had one of these...

I wrote it :p

@jalonso

>The forum has a FAQ about the site in general...

And you've read it?  Wow... I wish *I* had read it!  What's it say?

Oh, very well... if I MUST...

@1ucas

>Now do a transformation animation! :D

That was the idea originally; unfortunately I was distracted by a shiny pebble.  I still mean to do it eventually, though...

So here's another. You may notice that your smaller poodle ani shows up on the front page but not the Labradoodle. This is because PJ has a 10k or smaller preview file. The forum has a FAQ about the site in general...

...or I can post one at a time like this

Nice. Now do a transformation animation! :D 

Thanks for putting me wise!  I believe I've gotten rid of the backgrounds.

You are new to PJ so be aware that useless BGs are not well received. If for technical reasons you can't make the Bg transparent then say so in the description.